A place to stay
by Encrypted Pseudonym
Summary: Hawk is checking out a motel on the outskirts of town for a safe place to stay. Unfortunately he runs into a couple of unsavoury characters.


In case it wasn't clear in the summary this is a ZOMBIE fic. There will be ZOMBIES. Sorry I like doing that. ZOMBIES! The author's note is quite long, you don't have to read it if you don't want to, you can just skip to the warning.

OK this was written because of an idea that popped into my head while I was lying awake at four in the morning. I tried to fit it to one of the 30 words for the challenge fics I've been writing, but it just didn't seem to work with any of them. I may or may not write any more, for now I'm leaning towards not because I have no ideas for a plot in later chapters. But I may knock something together for next time I'm feeling particularly gruesome.

It's sort of a mix of resident evil and A.T.O.M. I wouldn't exactly call it a crossover because they won't be meeting any of the characters from resident evil and its still in Landmark City as far as I can tell. But it is an AU because the city is being overrun by zombies. I haven't seen 'Dem Bonez' (I think that's the A.T.O.M. Episode with the zombies) so I have no idea if what I've written is anything like that. Somehow I doubt it.

**Warning:** I have rated this an M because of graphic, bloody violence and a few swearwords. I was going to leave it as a T but when I read it through it was way too gross. If you think I'm being overly cautious please leave a review to let me know. So anyway, yeah, you have been warned.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own A.T.O.M. Or resident evil for that matter. But the two zombies did come from my very own sick twisted imagination.

**- I can't get the line thingys to work so you'll just have to pretend there's a line here. -**

Hawk crept along the dimly lit, musty corridor his gun held up in a tight grip, ready to shoot anything that moved. The wallpaper in the hallway was mottled and peeling where the damp was creeping up the walls, this only added to the run-down feel of the entire building. The carpet beneath Hawk's black boots was threadbare, revealing large patches of creaky dry floorboards.

He was investigating a cheap looking deserted motel on the outskirts of town for a suitable place to hole up for the night and also a few much needed supplies. He could could hear the aimless shuffling of a couple of _Them_ in the room to his right so he skipped past it, instead opting for a door at the far end of the corridor on his left.

He stepped quietly into a small motel bedroom. The space was filled almost entirely by a rickety looking double bed with grubby sheets. The boy shuddered at the sight of a miscellaneous stain on the cover not really wanting to know what had left it there.

Hawk pulled open the drawer of the bedside table and rifled through the belongings of whoever had long deserted the room. They had left most of their possessions in the frantic haste to leave. He didn't blame them, if he had the choice he'd be out of this godforsaken place and half way across the globe to somewhere it was safe. But he didn't have the choice.

The room smelt of rotting fruit. Then again so did most of the city by now, _They_ were everywhere, definitely outnumbering the survivors. Hawk was willing to bet he stank of it as well, the foul stench felt as though it was permeating his very skin, as though it was... infecting him. He shook his head refusing to let his mind dwell on such negative ideas.

He hated to think that he had almost grown used to such a horrible smell. But he had and that was why he almost didn't notice as it grew stronger from behind him. Hawk threw himself forward and rolled across the bed at the last second, even feeling the cold, clammy fingers as they swiped across the back of his neck.

The redhead came out of the roll facing the spot he had just vacated. In his place was a bedraggled woman, arms outstretched and unsteady on her feet. She was deathly pale with dishwater blonde hair hanging in lank strands around her face. Her once blue eyes were clouded over, almost sightless. She was reasonably fresh, still almost human looking, only a few patches of skin a green-grey that proved she was rotting away even as she moved around. But she wasn't human any more though, she was one of _Them_. A zombie, lost to the world.

The woman gave a pitiful moan of frustration her dull, sightless eyes moving sluggishly in her head, searching for her lost prize. Obviously the occupant hadn't deserted the room. She'd never even left. She must have been in the dingy en suite and come out when she heard him enter. Hawk felt bile rise in his throat when he realised the stain on the bed was her blood. He could see where she'd been attacked and infected. There was a bite on her cheek, the unmistakeable indentations of human teeth puncturing skin.

On her left forearm another huge chunk of skin had been ripped free leaving a jagged mess of torn flesh. Blood was oozing slowly from the wound, gooey and half coagulated, it slid down to her wrist before dripping to the floor. Hawk backed up horrified until he came into contact with the wall. There was a window and he breathed a sigh of relief. Even though he was two floors up it opened out on to the metal grill of a fire escape with a ladder leading down the dark alleyway beside the motel.

Of course he could shoot her, Hawk almost wanted to to put her out of her misery but he couldn't afford the bullets. There were worse things than zombies around and he needed all the ammo he could lay his hands on if he wanted to survive. Zombies were slow and stupid and provided you could get away from them it wasn't worth shooting them.

He turned and fumbled hastily with the catch while the zombie made her way unsteadily round the bed towards him. Finally it released and he wrenched the window open, clambering out and backing up against the safety railing so that when the woman lunged at him, snarling, her fingers couldn't quite reach him.

He gave a tight smile as the zombie shuffled vainly forwards her arms thrust through the opening still trying desperately to grab at the fresh meat. The redhead leaned back as she made a particularly violent lurch towards him and to his horror lost his centre of balance, beginning to fall backwards over the rail.

He hung for a few precarious seconds his arms flailing wildly then he toppled downwards. The gun slipped from his grasp as he plummeted and skittered away when it hit the floor. He just had time to think. _Great, damn fantastic, I survive all the gruesome monsters of this town only to die by falling out of a fucking window. _

All too quickly he hit the ground. His shoulder smashed painfully into something hard and the only thing that saved his life was the black sacks of refuse and cardboard boxes piled up against the wall. Groaning, Hawk got slowly and shakily to his feet. He winced as the fingers of his good arm felt the damage to his shoulder. It probably wasn't broken but it still hurt like hell. He looked round dazedly for his weapon.

It was only then that he noticed the dead body slumped against the wall. There was a rat chewing at the gaping hole where the man's belly should have been, his intestines spilling sloppily from the gap. Even as Hawk watched, the man's head moved and he got slowly to his feet, dislodging the rat. It gave a squeaky screech of fury and twisted back onto it's four scabby paws.

Instead of scampering back into the shadows, like a normal rat would, it streaked forwards attacking viciously at the zombie's ankle, tearing away tiny lumps of flesh with it's overly large, yellow teeth. It was larger than a vermin should be, it's fur was matted and it's eyes seemed to glow red in the gloom of the alley. It was another victim of the infection, twisted by the virus into a savage, desperate predator.

The zombie stood unaffected by the rat mauling his ankles. He stared hungrily at Hawk who was frozen with fear. He was wearing a torn and bloody suit, his appearance once that of a successful business man, now he was a picture of death. His arm was broken above the elbow, the bone poking through the skin of his arm and jacket sleeve, leaving it dangling uselessly by his side even as the other reached upwards.

He was older than the other zombie, only by a day, or two at most, but the virus sped up the decomposing process so he looked like he'd been dead for weeks. His flesh appeared soft and spongy and it looked disconcertingly like the wallpaper of the motel. It began to Peel away from his face as his mouth opened in a mournful "Uhhhh." The cracked lips parted, revealing a blackened tongue that lolled about glistening with saliva.

The moan released a breath of putrid air which wafted over Hawk and seemed to bring him out of his trance. He stumbled backwards, out of reach by a few steps, and nearly tripped over his own feet.

"Shit! Where's my gun?" He mumbled, desperately searching the ground. There was a loud crack and a bullet whizzed past Hawk's head, missing his ear by inches and nicking the neck of the zombie. A thin stream of stringy blood sprayed from the wound but the rotting man moved onwards undaunted. Another two shots echoed through the alleyway. One slammed into the creature's right eye, the other his temple. They both exploded out the back of his head, spraying globules of brain matter and shards of shattered skull across the bricks of the wall.

"Looking for this?" A voice asked, even as the zombie collapsed to the floor, certainly never going to rise again. Hawk spun and saw Shark standing in the entrance to the alley the gun dangling from the fingers of his right hand. He was smiling but his face was tense.

"Man, am I glad to see you." Hawk said, hobbling towards the blonde surfer and retrieving his gun. He tucked it into the belt of his pants and grinned back.

"What happened dude? I thought you were checking out the hotel, but instead I find you here about to become zombie chow."

"I _was_ checking out the motel. But when I was in one of the rooms I was attacked. I fell off the fire escape just in time for him to try and eat me." He explained gesturing to the crumpled ex-zombie. Shark looked worried and there was a moment of reflective silence.

It was broken by a high pitched squeak and the scrabble of sharp claws on concrete. The rat had grown bored of feasting on the corpse and was looking for something fresher. Hawk glared down at it with a growl of disgust and stamped hard on the rodent killing it instantly.

"Of course I had everything covered." He boasted slipping back into his arrogant persona now that the terror of the ordeal had faded.

"Of course." Shark grinned, they were on familiar ground once more.

"I _meant_ to fall of the balcony... actually it was more of a dive, a strategically planned escape route. You've got to keep your head in these situations..." Hawk continued and the two of them began to walk slowly back up the alley.

By the time they got to the front of the motel Hawk was saying. "... It's a good thing I was already on the scene or you might have been in serious trouble." Shark couldn't help chuckling. He was still more relieved that Hawk was OK than annoyed that he was being a prat.

**- I can't get the line thingys to work so you'll just have to pretend there's a line here. -**

What did you guys think? Leave a review, you know you want to. Even if its to tell me I'm gross and disgusting.


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